thebattalion ● monday,
october 29, 2012
● serving
texas a&m since 1893
● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2011 student media
Photos by Caleb Stewart — THE BATTALION
Operation Replant Volunteers restore plant life to beautify B-CS Hannah Meyerdirk
Junior nutritional science major Remigio Acevedo helps plant a tree as part of Replant. Many of the trees planted were grown on the A&M Riverside Campus.
Special to The Battalion Eight hundred Aggies ran to the rescue of the cry of “go green” by participating in the environmental giveback event called “Replant” on Saturday. Replant is a student-run organization that coordinates a one-day event for students to volunteer to help replant trees
organizations
in the B-CS area. Students could sign up as groups or as individuals. Around 76 organizations, which translated into about 800 people, signed up to take part in the event. Replant has been around for quite a long time. Back in 1990, Scott Hantman, the chair of the Environmental Issues Committee, organized the first Replant
in an effort to offset the effects of cutting down trees for Aggie Bonfire. “We had a lot of problems this year with our trees, unfortunately,” said Andrea Fonseca, senior horticulture major and president of Replant. “So on top of the quality control, we teach people the right way to plant a tree. Scorching from travel was a
problem with our trees as well. Of course, the trees will recover with the proper care.” Leaders of each organization that sign up for Replant are required to go to one of the three informationals held the week before Replant takes place. They are given all the information for Saturday: they are taught safety, See Replant on page 3
b-cs
Emerging club charges interest in energy solutions Sarvesh Kaslay Special to The Battalion “Practical efficiency” is a term that has become a buzzword in energy sustainability circles. This is the same phrase that Texas A&M Energy Club president and chief operating officer Doug Rickerd and Stephen Hassenflu reiterate when talking about engineering new ways to achieve energy efficiency. The energy club is a nascent student organization that aims to bolster discussion and promote cutting-edge ideas related to the energy sector. It also brings in experts from the industry with the goal of increasing awareness and knowledge about the field. “The energy club is on a higher level, a way for students to connect to the industry as a whole. We are focusing on a portfolio of issues; be it oils and gas, renewable energy or sustainability,” Rickerd said. While working with the Utilities and Energy Services department, Rickerd said he realized profitability and sustainability could coexist after understanding the steps that the department was taking to monitor and control consumption of electricity. Building on these experiences, the energy club attempts to come up
Looking ahead
◗ The energy club will host Exxon Mobil for “The Outlook for Energy: A View to 2040.” at 7 p.m. Oct. 24 in the Emerging Technologies Building. with pragmatic solutions for challenges facing the energy industry. “We are a new club trying to mesh with the private sector and the University to get everyone involved to form a community working toward the greater good. We are trying to raise awareness about the easy ways to promote energy efficiency. For example, making a building [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design]-certified and using LED lighting are very easy and convenient solutions,” junior finance major Stephen Hassenflu said. Hassenflu said the clubs main focus is on achieving efficiency without sacrificing productivity. “We can automate different processes in order to make them more efficient but at the same time we must take care to not trade efficiency for some of the comforts that we have,” Rickerd said. “The best See Energy club on page 3
Jake Walker — THE BATTALION
The Del Rio family dresses as astronauts on the Discovery space shuttle Sunday during the Night at the Museum Halloween Event at the George Bush Library.
Bush Library treats community Jake Walker The Battalion Captain America, with a bag of candy in tow, was one of many visitors to the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum on Sunday for its fifth annual Children’s Costume Contest and Trick-orTreating Halloween event. Families from BryanCollege Station dressed as an and eclectic group of superheroes, werewolves, zombies
and astronauts, converged on the plaza outside the library for an evening ofHalloween festivities. The Bush library plays host to families for holidays all throughout the year, including Fourth of July and Easter. Warren Finch, director of the Bush library, said these events are a way to say thank you to its supporting community. “We’re a part of the com-
munity,” Finch said. “We get a lot of support from the local folks, a lot of support from Texas A&M, support from College Station and Bryan and it’s kind of a way to give something back.” Attendees were encouraged to do some giving of their own and donate canned goods and other non-perishables to the Food for Families holiday food drive, which helps feed families in the Brazos Valley.
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